Apparatus and Method Pertaining to Light-Based Power Distribution in a Vehicle

ABSTRACT

A vehicle ( 400 ) such as an aircraft is provided ( 101 ) with a source of light ( 401 ). An optical conduit is then used to couple ( 104 ) this source of light to a light-to-electricity conversion apparatus ( 408 ). So configured, the optical conduit delivers light from this source of light to the light-to-electricity conversion apparatus such that the light source then serves as a source of electricity in the vehicle.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This invention relates generally to three previously filed patentapplications and to three additional patent applications as were filedon even date herewith as follows (wherein the contents of each of theseapplications is fully incorporated herein by this reference):

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/464,291, filed Aug. 14, 2006;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/464,308, filed Aug. 14, 2006;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/464,321, filed Aug. 14, 2006;

U.S. patent application filed Oct. 16, 2006, entitled Apparatus andMethod Pertaining to Light-Based Power Distribution in a Vehicle,bearing attorney's docket number 8462/89253;

U.S. patent application filed Oct. 16, 2006, entitled Apparatus andMethod Pertaining to Provision of a Substantially Unique AircraftIdentifier Via a Source of Power, bearing attorney's docket number8462/89254; and

U.S. patent application filed Oct. 16, 2006, entitled Apparatus andMethod Pertaining To Light-Based Power Distribution in a Vehicle,bearing attorney's docket number 8462/89255.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to light and the use thereof in avehicular context.

BACKGROUND

Vehicles of various kinds, including terrestrial, marine, and flyingvehicles are well known in the art. Such vehicles are typically, andincreasingly, equipped with a wide variety of electrically poweredvehicular components. Such components can and do serve a wide range ofpurposes that range from mission-critical to mere convenience orcomfort. Such electrically powered vehicular components, in turn,require a source of electric power.

Being mobile, a vehicle must typically carry its own on-board powersource. In many cases this comprises one or more batteries that may, ormay not, themselves be charged by a mechanical power plant (such as aninternal combustion engine or the like) that exclusively serves such apurpose or that serves other purposes as well (such as providing motiveforce for the vehicle). This, in turn, requires the use of electricalconductors to couple the power source to the electrically poweredvehicular components.

When the number of electrically powered vehicular components isrelatively small, the distance separating such components from the powersource relatively short, and weight comprises a negligible designconcern, such prior art approaches can be relatively successful. Inother application settings, however, numerous disadvantages presentthemselves. A modern aircraft, for example, provides a number of salientexamples in this regard.

For example, a modern aircraft typically has a relatively large numberof electrically powered vehicular components (many of which areimportant or critical to the safe operation of the aircraft). Thesenumerous components are often widely distributed over the extent andgirth of the aircraft. As a result, a significant quantity ofelectrically conductive material (such as copper wire) must be installedto couple these components to the aircraft's power source. This approachlends considerable additional weight to the aircraft. As thecarrying-capacity of any aircraft is ultimately limited, such weight isalways unhappily assumed at the expense of passenger or cargo bearingcapacity, fuel carrying capacity, or the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above needs are at least partially met through provision of theapparatus and method pertaining to light-based power distribution in avehicle described in the following detailed description, particularlywhen studied in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 comprises a flow diagram as configured in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention;

FIG. 2 comprises a schematic side elevational view as configured inaccordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 3 comprises a flow diagram as configured in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 4 comprises a block diagram as configured in accordance withvarious embodiments of the invention.

Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures areillustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily beendrawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioningof some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative toother elements to help to improve understanding of various embodimentsof the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements thatare useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are oftennot depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of thesevarious embodiments of the present invention. It will further beappreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described ordepicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in theart will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence isnot actually required. It will also be understood that the terms andexpressions used herein have the ordinary meaning as is accorded to suchterms and expressions with respect to their corresponding respectiveareas of inquiry and study except where specific meanings have otherwisebeen set forth herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally speaking, pursuant to these various embodiments, a vehiclesuch as an aircraft is provided with a source of light. An opticalconduit is then used to couple this source of light to alight-to-electricity conversion apparatus. So configured, the opticalconduit delivers light from this source of light to thelight-to-electricity conversion apparatus such that the light sourcethen serves as a source of electricity in the vehicle.

By one approach, each of the vehicle's electrically powered vehicularcomponents are provided with such a light-to-electricity conversionapparatus. If desired, a rechargeable power supply, such as a battery,receives at least part of the electrical power output of thelight-to-electricity conversion apparatus. So configured, theelectrically powered vehicular component will continue to operate in anormal manner (via power supplied by this rechargeable power supply)even when the optical conduit or the source of light are compromised insome manner. Though the rechargeable power supply of course representsan ultimately exhaustible reserve in this regard, a properly sizedrechargeable power supply will ensure an adequate power reserve topermit safe operation and handling of the vehicle during, for example, agiven trip.

Such an approach can lead to dramatic reductions with respect to theweight of the vehicle. Generally speaking, available optical conduitmaterials (and their corresponding couplers) weigh much less thancorresponding electrically conductive materials (and their correspondingcouplers). These teachings also yield an overall power distributionarchitecture that can provide improved protection against catastrophicsingle-point-of-failure events.

These and other benefits may become clearer upon making a thoroughreview and study of the following detailed description. Referring now tothe drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, a process 100 illustrative ofthese teachings will first be presented. These teachings are generallyapplicable in a wide variety of settings including both mobile andnon-moving applications. For the sake of example this process 100 willbe presented in conjunction with an aircraft application setting. Thoseskilled in the art will understand that this example is intended only asa illustrative case and is not to be taken as a suggestion that theseteachings are limited in this regard.

This process 100 provides for provision 101 of a source of light. By oneapproach, this source of light comprises, at least in part, a powerwavelength component. As will be described below, this power wavelengthcomponent will serve to excite a corresponding light-to-electricityconversion apparatus. Such a power wavelength component can thereforecomprise, for example, light having a wavelength (or a range ofwavelengths) that is particularly stimulative for certainphotonically-responsive materials.

In this regard, at present, certain non-visible or substantiallynon-visible wavelengths of light are particularly appropriate for suchservice. Existing materials of value as known in the art, for example,are particularly efficient when excited by light having a wavelength ofabout 808 nanometers (which lies in the infrared range). If desired,however, visible light (such as white light having a wavelength in therange of 450 to 700 nanometers) can be used with at least somephotonically-based converters.

Those skilled in the art will also recognize that these teachings willbe equally applicable to light having other wavelengths (such asultraviolet, far infrared, or the like) as materials are developed andintroduced that are photonically-excitable at those other wavelengths.It will also be understood by those skilled in the art that this sourceof light can itself comprise a source of a plurality of differentwavelengths where each of the wavelengths can be intended and applied asa power component.

This source of light can be self-powered (using, for example, adedicated power source such as a battery, alternator, or the like) orcan rely, in whole or in part, upon another power source. For example,by one approach, this source of light can rely upon power from anaircraft engine. In such a case, for example, the aircraft engine mayserve to power an alternator that provides corresponding electricity tothe source of light. As another example, the aircraft engine may serveto power a charging apparatus that in turn maintains a charge on abattery that provides necessary power to the source of light. Suchapproaches are generally well understood in the art and require nofurther elaboration here.

Non-visible (or substantially non-visible) light, particularly whenemployed as a power component, can potentially present a concern forservice personnel or the like. In particular, being non-visible (orsubstantially non-visible), such light will not necessarily invoke anautomatic iris response in the eye of a beholder that would cause theiris to at least partially close. In some cases, however, this powercomponent light may nevertheless be capable of causing at leasttemporary eye-related distress. Therefore, if desired, this process 100will optionally accommodate also providing a safety-pilot wavelengthcomponent 102 in addition to the aforementioned power wavelengthcomponent.

By one approach, this safety-pilot wavelength component 102 can comprisea visible light component. Being visible, this component can serve toinvoke an iris response and/or a useful perception or reaction on thepart of an observer. This, in turn, can aid in preventing the occurrenceof any problems as might otherwise occur when gazing too long at thepower wavelength component provided by the source of light.

Any of a variety of colors can be considered for application in thisregard. For example, a red or yellow color might be employed as suchcolors are often associated with a dangerous or cautionary situation inmany cultures. As another example, a green colored light (having, forexample, a wavelength of about 532 nanometers) could serve in thisregard. Green light sources (such as green laser diodes) are relativelyinexpensive and have the further benefit of being perceived by theaverage human as being brighter than other colors of similar objectivebrightness.

In general, this safety-pilot wavelength component can comprise aconstant component of the source of light. If desired, however, thebrightness of this component can be periodically varied (and/or thesafety-pilot component can be switched on and off at regular orsemi-regular intervals) in order to provide a pulsed safety-pilotwavelength component. This pulsed representation may be useful in someapplication settings to serve as a human-perceptible alarm or cautionarysignal of sorts. It would also be possible to switch between differentcolors of visible light (such as between green and red) to provide avisual warning to alert an onlooker that they should not continue togaze into the source of light.

This process 100 will also optionally accommodate providing anidentifier 103 that is substantially unique to the application setting.When that application setting comprises an aircraft, for example, thisidentifier can comprise a unique numeric or alphanumeric string that isassigned to only one given aircraft (by, for example, a givenmanufacturer, a given aircraft operator, a given regulatory agency, agiven industry group, or the like). Such an indicator can be modulatedonto a wavelength carrier that serves only to bear this information ormay, if desired, be modulated onto the aforementioned power wavelengthcomponent and/or the safety-pilot wavelength component. The use andapplication of such an identifier in this context will be furtherdiscussed in the following description.

This process 100 then provides for using 104 an optical conduit tocouple this source of light to a light-to-electricity conversionapparatus. The light-to-electricity conversion apparatus can compriseany known or hereafter developed material and/or platform that serves toconvert impinging light into electricity. Such information comprises awell-understood area of endeavor. Accordingly, for the sake of brevityand clarity, this description will not provide further needlesselaboration in this regard.

The optical conduit itself can comprise any of a wide variety ofmaterials and form factors. By one approach, hard-form glass or plasticwaveguides of various kinds could be employed for this purpose. For manyapplication settings, however, optical fibers will serve as a usefulmechanism in this regard. Optical fibers of a variety of materials canserve for this purpose. When weight-savings and cost represent importantdesign considerations, however, as with an aircraft application setting,optical fibers comprised of polymer materials (such as plastic) may beparticularly appropriate. Such optical fibers are well known in the artand require no further description here.

Particularly in consideration of the power wavelength component to beconveyed, these optical fibers can be of relatively large diameter. Intypical prior art applications, very small diameter fibers are used tosend the light in such regards, (for example, 50 um or 62.5 umSingle-Mode glass fibers). In the present teachings, however, opticalfibers having a diameter from about 0.1 to about 5 millimeters will workwell for these purposes (with optical fibers having a diameter of about1 millimeter being quite useful, for example, in a number of applicationsettings). Such relatively wide dimensions have a particular benefit inthat they have thousands of times the cross-sectional area of smalldiameter fibers. This, in turn, results in a relatively low powerdensity, that is, total power per unit area of cross-sectional fibercore, and hence individually pose a relatively reduced risk of injury tothe eye of a beholder. It also reduces greatly, and in some casescompletely eliminates, the risk of an open fiber tip acting as anignition source for fuel vapors, carpet or other fabric, or anythingelse that is flammable inside a vehicle.

If desired, this optical conduit can comprise a plurality of opticalfibers. To illustrate, and referring momentarily to FIG. 2, a givenoptical fiber 200 can comprise at least two optical fibers 201 and 202(which may be of equal, or differing, sized diameters). As suggested bythe optical fiber(s) 203 that are shown with phantom lines as well asthe ellipsis', an additional number of optical fibers can be provided asdesired. For example, for many application settings, such an opticalconduit 200 can be comprised of from about 2 to about 100 such opticalfibers.

So configured (and returning again to FIG. 1), this process 100 providesfor light (and particularly light having a power wavelength component)to be transported via an optical conduit to a light-to-electricityconversion apparatus. This, in turn, permits power to be distributedthroughout an application setting (such as an aircraft) withoutrequiring a concurrent distribution of costly, weighty electricalconductors.

As shown, this process 100 will also optionally accommodate using 105this light-to-electricity conversion apparatus to convert such lightinto electricity and to use 106 this electricity to, in turn, charge arechargeable power supply. The latter can then comprise the primarysource of electricity for one or more corresponding electrically poweredcomponents.

So configured, and referring now to FIG. 3, these teachings will alsooptionally accommodate a process 300 whereby the aforementionedidentifier is recovered 301 from the light and then used 302 todetermine a particular mode of operation. This recovery can beaccomplished using, for example, known photosensitivedetectors/receivers that are capable of detecting and demodulating theidentifier content from the light-based carrier(s).

As a more specific example in this regard, a given aircraft can have acorresponding unique identifier previously assigned thereto. Givenaircraft components can, in turn, be pre-programmed for installation andoperation in a given aircraft by installing that unique identifier inthe aircraft component (for example, by storing that unique identifierin an accessible memory). So configured, such an aircraft component,upon recovering the unique identifier provided via light as describedabove, can then compare that recovered value with its previouslyassigned value to determine, for example, whether it has authorizationto operate in this particular aircraft. Upon concluding that such is notthe case, such an aircraft component could then automatically respond byat least partially diminishing one or more of its operatingcapabilities.

Such a capability could serve to deter willful or negligent maintenancepersonnel from installing inappropriate equipment when conductingroutine or emergency maintenance services. For example, suchfunctionality would discourage service personnel from inappropriatelyremoving a given component from one aircraft and installing thatcomponent in another aircraft without appropriate authorization.

The specifics of this option can of course be varied to suit the needsand/or opportunities presented by a given application setting. As oneexample in this regard, if desired, a given aircraft component might bepreauthorized to accept a particular range of identifiers. By thisapproach, a given component might be preauthorized for installation anduse in, say, five specific aircraft in a given fleet while stilldiscouraging such installations and use in remaining vehicles withinthat fleet. Such a range of identifiers could be identified as a tableor list of authorized identifiers or, if desired, as a range ofidentifiers bounded by lower and upper identifier values.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above-describedprocesses are readily enabled using any of a wide variety of availableand/or readily configured platforms, including partially or whollyprogrammable platforms as are known in the art or dedicated purposeplatforms as may be desired for some applications. Referring now to FIG.4, an illustrative approach to such a platform will now be provided.

In this example the operative apparatus comprises a vehicle. Inparticular, and again for the purpose of illustration, this operativeapparatus comprises an aircraft 400 (such as, but not limited to, asingle or multi-engine fixed wing aircraft as are well known andunderstood in the art). If desired, this aircraft can be configured andarranged to optically distribute data to and from a variety ofelectrically powered aircraft components. Such optical data distributioncan be achieved, for example, by use of the teachings contained in theabove-reference patent applications. If desired, this aircraft can befurther configured and arranged in this regard to optically distributedata to and from the electrically powered aircraft componentsindependent of the power distribution optical conduit discussed aboveand described below.

In accordance with the teachings set forth herein, this aircraft 400includes a source of power that comprises, in this example, a source oflight 401. This source of light 401 can operably couple, if desired, toan aircraft battery 402 (such as an aircraft main battery) which may, inturn, be operably coupled to an aircraft engine 403 that serves tomaintain a charge on the aircraft battery 402. Such engines, batteries,and the like are well known in the art. As the present teachings are notoverly sensitive to any particular selections in this regard, for thesake of brevity further details regarding such components will not beprovided here.

This source of light 401 comprises, in this embodiment, at least a powerwavelength component source 404 (such as, but not limited to, any of anumber of solid-state light emitting devices such as light emittingdiodes, lasers, or the like). This source of light 401 operably couplesvia an optical conduit 405 (for example, as described above) to alight-to-electricity conversion apparatus 406 of choice. As noted above,this light-to-electricity conversion apparatus 406 serves to convert atleast the power wavelength component (or components) as sourced by thesource of light 401 into electricity. By one approach, and as suggestedby the illustration, this light-to-electricity conversion apparatus 406can optionally operably couple to a rechargeable power supply 407. Soconfigured and arranged, electricity as provided by thelight-to-electricity conversion apparatus 406 can serve to charge therechargeable power supply 407.

The rechargeable power supply 407 can then couple, in turn, to acorresponding aircraft component 408. Virtually any electrically poweredaircraft component can be served in this manner with some examplescomprising avionics components, electro-servo mechanisms, displays, andso forth. This can comprise, if desired, a one-to-one configuration suchthat a single such rechargeable power supply serves to power only asingle corresponding aircraft component. In the alternative, if desired,a single rechargeable power supply can serve to power a plurality ofaircraft components. It would also be possible, if desired, to couple aplurality of rechargeable power supplies in parallel to a singleaircraft component (in order to provide, for example, a redundant supplycapacity).

If desired, these teachings will accommodate providing more than onesuch independent light source (as represented in the illustration by anNth light source 409 (where “N” will be understood to comprise aninteger value greater than one). By one approach, and as suggested bythe illustration, two or more such sources of light can feed one or moreof the same light-to-electricity conversion apparatuses. So configured,the light-to-electricity conversion apparatus has the benefit ofredundant power sources and/or has a greater amount of instantaneouspower available in the form of additional light. It would also bepossible to use such additional light sources to power additionalaircraft components independent of one another. To illustrate, a firstlight source could serve to power a first group of five aircraftcomponents and a second light source could serve to power a second groupof five other aircraft components.

If desired, and again as suggested in the illustration, one can alsooptionally couple more than one optical conduit to a given source oflight (as suggested by the optical conduit denoted by reference numeral411). Such additional optical conduits 411 can couple in a similarmanner to other light-to-electricity conversion apparatuses 412,corresponding rechargeable power supplies 413, and aircraft components414 as appropriate. So configured, those skilled in the art willrecognize the resultant power distribution architecture as comprising astar distribution pattern. With such a configuration, severing of anyone of the optical conduits will not have any effect upon theoperability of the remaining optical conduits. It would also be possiblefor separate whole sets of light sources and sinks (i.e., in thisillustrative embodiments, the light-to-electricity converterapparatuses) to be cross-coupled for fail-functional operation.

By one approach, the above-described rechargeable power supplies areeach located relatively close to their corresponding aircraft component.In fact, if desired, such a capability can comprise a native capabilityof the aircraft component when the rechargeable power supply comprisesan integral part of the aircraft component. This same approach can betaken with the light-to-electricity conversion apparatus as well, ifdesired.

It is not necessary that the source of light (either alone or in theaggregate with other sources of light) be capable of providing aninstantaneous amount of energy that is capable of powering, in realtime, all of the electrically powered aircraft components as may becoupled thereto. A properly sized rechargeable power supply shouldensure that sufficient energy is available to operate such componentsfor the duration of a given desired or planned operating period (such asa given flight of the aircraft).

As noted above, the source of light 401 can also serve to provide andcombine a safety-pilot wavelength component 415 with the powerwavelength component 404. So configured, and particularly when the powerwavelength component 404 comprises a substantially or fully non-visiblewavelength (such as an infrared wavelength) as described above, thissafety-pilot wavelength component 415 (which can comprise a visiblelight of choice) can serve to warning onlookers to avoid looking intothe light output by the source of light 401 while also serving to invokea reflexive closure of the pupil in order to afford some degree ofnatural eye protection as well.

Also as noted above, the source of light 401 can be provided with anidentifier (that may be stored, for example, in a corresponding memory416) that is unique, or substantially unique, to the aircraft 400itself. This identifier can be provided, for example, to a modulator 417that modulates a light carrier (such as, but not limited to, the powerwavelength component 404, the safety-pilot wavelength component 415, oranother light carrier of choice) with the identifier information.Various modulators and types of modulation are known in the art and maybe applied here as appropriate. The effective data rate can comprise, ifdesired, a relatively low data rate. It will also be understood thatsuch information can be transmitted on a substantially continuous,repeated basis or can be transmitted less frequently as desired.

Those skilled in the art will recognize and understand that such anapparatus 400 may be comprised of a plurality of physically distinctelements as is suggested by the illustration shown in FIG. 4. It is alsopossible, however, to view this illustration as comprising a logicalview, in which case one or more of these elements can be enabled andrealized via a shared platform. It will also be understood that such ashared platform may comprise a wholly or at least partially programmableplatform as are known in the art.

So configured, those skilled in the art will recognize and appreciatethat these teachings provide a highly leveragable basis for distributingpower throughout an application setting of choice. These teachings arereadily implemented in an economically feasible manner and can easilyscale to accommodate a wide range of needs and requirements. It willfurther be appreciated that these teachings can lead to significantweight reductions as electrical conductors and their correspondingcouplers are removed as a design requirement. These teachings also serveto permit a relatively safe use of light as power source, in partthrough selection of appropriately sized optical fibers and in partthrough use of a safety-pilot wavelength component. Those skilled in theart will also recognize the value of providing a unique identifier inconjunction with the delivery of light throughout an applicationsetting.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety ofmodifications, alterations, and combinations can be made with respect tothe above described embodiments without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention, and that such modifications, alterations, andcombinations are to be viewed as being within the ambit of the inventiveconcept. As but one illustration in this regard, if desired, theaforementioned source of light can be further configured and arranged tosource yet another component of light. This additional component oflight might comprise, for example, a data-bearing component (tofacilitate the transmission and/or reception of operating information bythe above-mentioned components), a heating component (such as infraredlight in the range of about 1,000 to about 5,000 nanometers) that can beused as a heating source (for example, to warm unduly cooled avionicsequipment, cockpit displays, and so forth), or even a surfaceillumination end use component (as when the additional componentcomprises white light that serves as backlight illumination for acockpit display).

1. A method comprising: in an aircraft: providing a source of lightwithin the aircraft such that the source of light will accompany theaircraft when the aircraft is in flight; using an optical conduit tocouple the source of light to a light-to-electricity conversionapparatus; such that light from the source of light is delivered to thelight-to-electricity conversion apparatus via the optical conduit and isused to provide a source of electricity in the aircraft to components ofthe aircraft.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein providing a source oflight comprises providing a source of light that is powered, at least inpart, by an aircraft engine.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein providinga source of light comprises providing at least two independent sourcesof light.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein using an optical conduit tocouple the source of light to a light-to-electricity conversionapparatus comprises: using a first optical conduit to couple a firstsource of light to the light-to-electricity conversion apparatus; usinga second optical conduit that is independent of the first opticalconduit to couple a second source of light that is different than thefirst source of light to the light-to-electricity conversion apparatus;such that the light-to-electricity conversion apparatus receives aredundant supply of light to be converted to electricity.
 5. The methodof claim 1 wherein providing a source of light comprises, at least inpart, providing a source of infrared light.
 6. The method of claim 1wherein the light-to-electricity conversion apparatus comprises aninfrared light-to-electricity conversion apparatus.
 7. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the optical conduit comprises, at least in part, anoptical fiber.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein the optical conduitcomprises, at least in part, a plurality of the optical fibers.
 9. Themethod of claim 8 wherein the plurality of the optical fibers comprisesa plurality of optical fibers that are each comprised of polymermaterials.
 10. The method of claim 9 wherein the plurality of opticalfibers comprises a plurality of optical fibers that are each about 0.1to 5 millimeter in diameter.
 11. The method of claim 10 wherein theplurality of optical fibers comprises from about 2 to about 100 opticalfibers.
 12. The method of claim 1 wherein using an optical conduit tocouple the source of light to a light-to-electricity conversionapparatus comprises using a plurality of optical conduits to couple thesource of light to a corresponding plurality of light-to-electricityconversion apparatuses.
 13. The method of claim 12 wherein using aplurality of optical conduits to couple the source of light to acorresponding plurality of light-to-electricity conversion apparatusescomprises using a star-based architecture to couple the source of lightto the plurality of light-to-electricity conversion apparatuses.
 14. Themethod of claim 13 wherein separate whole sets of light sources andsinks are cross-coupled for fail-functional operation.
 15. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the light-to-electricity conversion apparatus is furtheroperably coupled to at least one electrically powered aircraftcomponent.
 16. The method of claim 15 wherein the light-to-electricityconversion apparatus comprises an integral part of the electricallypowered aircraft component.
 17. The method of claim 15 wherein theaircraft is configured and arranged to optically distribute data to andfrom the electrically powered aircraft component.
 18. The method ofclaim 17 wherein the aircraft is configured and arranged to opticallydistribute data to and from the electrically powered aircraft componentindependent of the optical conduit.
 19. The method of claim 1 whereinproviding a source of light comprises: providing a source of a firstcomponent of the light; providing a source of a second component of thelight, wherein the first and second components are different from oneanother.
 20. The method of claim 19 wherein the first component of thelight comprises a power component and the second component of the lightcomprises a visible marker.
 21. The method of claim 20 wherein the powercomponent comprises an infrared light component.
 22. The method of claim21 wherein the visible marker comprises a visible light component. 23.The method of claim 22 wherein the visible light component comprises awhite light component.
 24. The method of claim 20 wherein providing asource of light further comprises providing at least a third componentof the light that is different from the first and second components,wherein the third component comprises at least one of: a data-bearingcomponent; a heating component; a surface illumination end usecomponent.
 25. An aircraft power distribution system comprising: asource of light disposed within an aircraft such that the source oflight will accompany the aircraft when the aircraft is in flight; anoptical conduit that is operably coupled between the source of light anda light-to-electricity conversion apparatus; such that light from thesource of light is delivered to the light-to-electricity conversionapparatus via the optical conduit and is used to provide a source ofelectricity in the aircraft.
 26. The aircraft power distribution systemof claim 25 wherein the source of light is operably coupled to anaircraft engine to thereby facilitate powering the source of light. 27.The aircraft power distribution system of claim 25 wherein the source oflight is operably coupled to an aircraft main battery to therebyfacilitate powering the source of light.
 28. The aircraft powerdistribution system of claim 25 wherein the source of light comprises atleast two independent sources of light.
 29. The aircraft powerdistribution system of claim 28 wherein the optical conduit comprises: afirst optical conduit that is operably coupled between a first source oflight and the light-to-electricity conversion apparatus; a secondoptical conduit that is independent of the first optical conduit andthat is operably coupled between a second source of light and thelight-to-electricity conversion apparatus, wherein the second source oflight is different from the first source of light; such that thelight-to-electricity conversion apparatus receives a redundant supply oflight to be converted to electricity.
 30. The aircraft powerdistribution system of claim 25 wherein the source of light comprises,at least in part, a source of infrared light.
 31. The aircraft powerdistribution system of claim 25 wherein the optical conduit comprises,at least in part, an optical fiber.
 32. The aircraft power distributionsystem of claim 31 wherein the optical conduit comprises, at least inpart, a plurality of the optical fibers.
 33. The aircraft powerdistribution system of claim 32 wherein the plurality of the opticalfibers comprises a plurality of optical fibers that are each comprisedof a polymer material.
 34. The aircraft power distribution system ofclaim 33 wherein the plurality of optical fibers comprises a pluralityof optical fibers that are each about 0.1 to 5 millimeter in diameter.35. The aircraft power distribution system of claim 34 wherein theplurality of optical fibers comprises from about 2 to about 100 opticalfibers.
 36. The aircraft power distribution system of claim 25 whereinthe optical conduit that is operably coupled between the source of lightand a light-to-electricity conversion apparatus comprises a plurality ofoptical conduits that are each operably coupled between the source oflight and a corresponding plurality of light-to-electricity conversionapparatuses.
 37. The aircraft power distribution system of claim 36wherein the plurality of optical conduits that are each operably coupledbetween the source of light and a corresponding plurality oflight-to-electricity conversion apparatuses are so coupled using astar-based architecture.
 38. An aircraft comprising: a plurality ofelectrically powered aircraft components; a source of light; a pluralityof optical conduits, wherein at least one of the plurality of opticalconduits is operably coupled between the source of light and acorresponding light-to-electricity conversion apparatus that is operablycoupled to at least one of the plurality of electrically poweredaircraft components; such that light from the source of light isdelivered to the light-to-electricity conversion apparatus via theoptical conduit and is used to provide a source of electricity to theplurality of electrically powered aircraft components.
 39. A methodcomprising: in a vehicle that is configured and arranged to opticallydistribute data to and from an electrically powered vehicle componentvia an optical data distribution network: providing a source of light;using an optical conduit that is independent of the optical datadistribution network to couple the source of light to alight-to-electricity conversion apparatus that is itself operablycoupled to the electrically powered vehicle component; such that lightfrom the source of light is delivered to the light-to-electricityconversion apparatus via the optical conduit, independent of the opticaldata distribution network, and is used to provide a source ofelectricity in the vehicle.